A FIRST BATTLE ON CHINESE SOIL
The distance from the Gulf of Pechili to Tien-Tsin by the Pei-Ho is
all of seventy miles; for the river, broad and very shallow except
during the annual high tides, winds its way along in serpent fashion
through marshland and reeds, with here and there an embankment thrown
up to resist the encroachments of the sea. Fortunately, the bottom of
the river is nothing more dangerous than slimy mud, so that steamers
getting stuck suffer little or nothing save the time and expense of
getting afloat again.
The native city and the foreign concessions lie on the southern bank
of the Pei-Ho; while opposite are the railroad station, docks, and,
just east of these, the arsenal. The distance from here to Tongku
by railroad, a direct line, is but twenty-seven miles, with but one
station of importance between, Chung-Liang-Cheng. To the west of the
native quarter is the Grand Canal, on the opposite bank of which are
located the cathedral and the private grounds and palace of the viceroy
of Shantung, Earl Li Hung Chang.
The native city of Tien-Tsin is surrounded by a high stone wall; and
there is another wall still further out, around all of the settlements.
The latter was erected during the war of 1860, when China was fighting
the French and English. The wall would have made an excellent defence;
but it was never manned, the Chinese soldiers contenting themselves
with shooting off a vast amount of fire-crackers, in order to scare the
enemy, and then running for their lives.
Tien-Tsin, new and old, covers a good many miles of territory; for,
while the houses and huts of brick, mud, wood, and bamboo are often
huddled close together, yet there are numerous wide market-places and
low spots often covered with water during a heavy rain. The streets are
narrow, crooked, and dirty to the last degree. Paving, as we know it,
is unknown, and so are sewers; and the consequence is that each street,
or rather lane, soon becomes something of an open ditch, breeding
disease and death.
What struck Gilbert as peculiar on his first trip beyond Tongku were
the numerous mounds which greeted his eyes, rearing their heads like
so many ant-hills at every turn. He soon learned, however, that these
were the well-known graves of China, scattered broadcast. In some cases
these graves are deeply dug; but in others the dead are placed along
the roadside, and covered only with a handful of earth or a bit of
coarse matting.
The young lieutenant’s duties at Tongku kept him close to the river
front; and from time to time he saw floating on the stream the lifeless
bodies of Chinese soldiers and Boxers, the latter easily to be
identified by the curious symbols on their breasts, painted on their
garments as a guard against all evils! Once he saw three Celestials
floating together, each in the death-grip of the others; and the sight
made him shudder more than anything he had witnessed in the Philippines.
“Poor fellows! it’s a good deal of a pity to fight them,” he murmured.
“They really don’t know what they are doing. I suppose, in their way,
they imagine they are quite in the right.” Then he drew a long breath,
and the soldier spirit came back to him. “But they have got to leave
the missionaries and our representatives alone, and that is all there
is to it.”
The _Brooklyn_ and the _Oregon_, the two warships which had given such
good accounts of themselves at the battle of Santiago Harbor, had
not yet arrived at Taku, but were expected at any hour. The _Oregon_
had met with a slight mishap, and was in consequence undergoing some
temporary repairs. General Chaffee was also expected very soon, with
his troops from San Francisco.
It was on Independence Day that Gilbert found himself on the firing
line for the first time. The Allies were trying to keep open the line
of communication along the railroad to Tien-Tsin; but twelve miles
from Tongku the rails were completely gone, the road-bed crossed by
newly-made ditches, and the Boxers were on the constant lookout, hoping
to entrap any “foreign devils” who might show themselves. In the mean
time Tien-Tsin was being furiously bombarded by Boxers and Shantung
government troops combined, who had brought to the scene a number of
powerful Krupp siege guns.
“Lieutenant, we are ordered out up the railroad,” said Captain Banner
early on the morning of the Fourth of July. “The whole battalion is
going, and Major Morris agrees with me that we are likely to celebrate
the day by firing a good many shots.”
“All right, captain. I am ready any time the major sets,” answered
Gilbert, with a grim smile. “I came to China to fight; and I believe
fighting is a good bit like swimming,--the sooner you get into trim for
it and plunge in, the better off you are. It won’t do for a swimmer to
stand on the bank and shiver, as he looks at the cold water; and it
won’t do for a soldier to get the ‘yellow shakes,’ as our Western boys
term it, listening to the guns from a distance.”
At this homely view of things, Captain Banner laughed. “I don’t believe
you will get the shakes,” he said. “You have been through the mill too
often.”
“But I may get them, nevertheless. I have heard tell that the best
of officers get shaky at times. There is no such thing as utter
nervelessness, if you’ll allow me to coin the word.”
Orders were soon going the rounds; and, after a hasty breakfast,
blanket rolls were packed, guns inspected, and additional ammunition
passed around. In an hour more the battalion was on the march, those
left behind wishing the members of the four companies the best of luck.
“Don’t stop until you have gone straight through to Pekin!” cried one
of the men left behind. “Show the foreigners what Yankee blood and
pluck can do!” And a cheer went up, which lasted until the battalion
had left Tongku behind.
The weather was warm and muggy; and, had some of the soldiers had their
way, blanket rolls would have been pitched aside, to be picked up by
the cart train following. But this was not allowed, for there was no
telling where the battalion would rest during the coming night or if
the train would get through in safety.
“I have often wondered if the folks at home fully realize the life
a soldier leads,” remarked Captain Banner, as he walked along near
Gilbert. “They hear of victories or defeats, and read the death lists
and all that; but do they realize the knocking around a soldier
does,--how he has to tramp miles and miles, be it hot or cold, dry
or wet, with a heavy gun and a heavier load, eating when he can and
whatever he manages to get, and sleeping very often in the open air and
occasionally in a soaking rain?”
“I don’t believe folks do realize it,” answered Gilbert. “If they
did, so many of them wouldn’t be for talking of the glories of a
soldier’s life and the pride of conquest. Of course there is lots of
excitement, when a real campaign is on; but such waits as we had in the
Philippines, especially during the wet seasons, are awful.”
“Everything depends upon what you get used to,” put in Major Morris,
who was near. “Now look at Captain Cannon, for example. He has been in
both the army and the navy, and he virtually knows nothing else. He
would rather fight than eat, and nothing would suit him better than
for the United States to start out on a world-conquering tour. He told
me yesterday that he hoped we should keep on fighting in China for at
least a year.”
“A year!” cried Gilbert. “Well, I don’t agree with him. I trust we
have only one or two good battles, and that the Chinese then come to
terms. I am afraid it would make me sick to fight the pig-tails for a
whole year. I was heartily tired of fighting the Filipinos when I left
Manila.”
By noon the battalion had gone along the railroad line for a
considerable distance, and from ahead came the booming of a cannon
in the direction of Chung-Liang-Cheng. There was a wide paddy field
to cross; and beyond was a small wood, flanked on the right by a mud
embankment and a ditch.
“Some Russian troops ahead,” announced Major Morris, after surveying
the situation with his field-glasses. He turned to Gilbert. “Lieutenant
Pennington, take two men with you over to yonder embankment, and find
out what is going on.”
“I will do so, Major Morris,” answered the young lieutenant, and
saluted. The major next issued a command for the battalion to halt, and
the four companies came to a rest at the edge of the rice field.
Gilbert knew that he could trust no men more than Stummer and Casey,
and soon had them at his side. The trio hurried across the field, but
with caution, and soon entered the wood previously mentioned. From a
distance the cracking of rifles continued, but the sounds showed that
both the enemy and the Russians were shifting their positions.
“We’ll be nixt to it very soon now,” muttered Dan Casey, as he clutched
his gun in such a manner that he might use it at the slightest warning.
“It sames to me I’m afther hearing thim Chinks yell already.”
“I dink dem vos Roossins you vos hear,” answered Stummer. “Da vos
firin’ by-- Here da come now!”
There was a rushing of many feet and a yelling in a tongue that was
foreign to Gilbert, and the next instant a body of Cossacks burst into
view. Whether they were making a flank movement or retreating, the
young lieutenant could not tell. As they swept along, a captain of the
command saw the three, and ran toward them.
“Who are you? Where come you from?” he asked in the Russian tongue, and
then, noting the uniforms, added, “Americans?”
“Yes,” answered Gilbert. “Do you speak English?”
The Russian captain shook his head. “Do you speak Russian?” he asked in
his own tongue.
It was now Gilbert’s turn to shake his head. This made him smile, and
the Russian seemed also to enjoy the grim humor of the situation.
“If we can’t understand each other, we’re stuck,” muttered the young
lieutenant. Then a sudden thought struck him, and he turned to
Stummer. “Carl, try him in German.”
Saluting, Stummer did so; and at this the Russian looked relieved. He
could speak sufficient German to make himself understood; and, through
the private, Gilbert learned that the Russian body at the wood numbered
about three hundred. Over two thousand Boxers were in front of the
Russians, and the latter were on their way to use the embankment as a
cover.
“We have over four hundred men,” answered Gilbert, through Carl. “I
will inform my superior of the state of affairs, and he will most
likely come to your aid. Will you hold the embankment if we skirt the
wood and come up on the other side?”
“We will,” answered the Russian.
By this time the foreign officer had to move along with the last of
his command,--fierce-looking fellows, whose uniforms were covered with
dust, dirt, and blood. The young lieutenant lost no time in returning
to Major Morris and reporting.
“We will skirt the wood, as you intimated to the Russian captain,”
said the major, promptly. “Battalion, attention! Forward march!
Double-quick!” And away went the command, Company A leading, with
Captain Banner and Gilbert at either end of the long line.
It must be confessed that Gilbert’s heart beat quickly, for the
Chinese could be seen at a distance, shouting and screaming and waving
innumerable banners; for to the Celestials banners seem almost as
necessary as guns. Then came a sudden cracking of rifles, and a volley
of bullets passed over the Americans’ heads.
“Take aim! Fire!” came the order; and the long line of rifles flashed
forth and many a Boxer was seen to topple over, to rise no more. Each
regular was a trained marksman, and shot to kill. Then the Americans
swept on, and in a few seconds more Gilbert was in the very midst of
his first battle on Chinese soil.